Glam CEO: Funding Market Getting "Tighter"

Plenty of back and forth about whether Glam's new $85M funding round and $500 million valuation is a victory or a comedown for the media/ad network. Both the WSJ and VentureBeat have good details about the deal, which was led by German media conglomerate Hubert Burda.

Not surprisingly, Glam CEO Samir Arora tells us that he's pleased with the round. But even Arora, who's as buoyant an optimist as they come, acknowledged that it has gotten tougher to raise money -- at least for big rounds -- in the past six months.

"We didn't find any hiccups in the fundraising process, but we did find that the market was tighter, starting midway through the fourth quarter [of 2007]," he said. "If you're trying to do a Series A or B [funding round], I think the market if very open. But I think at the later stage, with larger rounds, you really do have to have a viable business."

Sounds right. But as Samir just proved, there is plenty of money still out there. Example B: AdConion Media Group, a London-based ad network now expanding in North America, has announced an $80 million Series C round, led by Index Ventures. An accompanying press release describes the deal as "the largest European internet media venture investment in history" and the "biggest pure-VC raise in history."